


In which Eponine and Montparnasse share a secret.

by Eponine_Thenardibae



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Cafe AU, Drug mention cw, F/M, Fluff, Kinda, Modern AU, Montponine, One Shot, Short, Unrequited Marius/Eponine mentioned, swearing cw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-29
Updated: 2016-07-29
Packaged: 2018-07-27 10:24:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7614433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eponine_Thenardibae/pseuds/Eponine_Thenardibae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Trying to not look like he was running away from a crime scene, he slipped through the back door, checking carefully for people watching and then grabbing Eponine by the hand and starting to run through the backstreets."</p><p>---------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>Eponine and Montparnasse run into each other in the most unexpected place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In which Eponine and Montparnasse share a secret.

**Author's Note:**

> This is fluff, I promise, you just gotta wait for it.

Eponine turned her hood up and snuck through the alleyway next to the musain. She had some business to take care of a couple of miles away and she didn't want anyone seeing where she was going. Definitely not the Les amis de L'ABC. Especially not Marius, he would tell everyone her secret. She wouldn’t think it a big deal, but the looks of disappointment and pity that she imagied in their eyes as she walked into the musain the next meeting she attended would be far too much for her to bare. 

She dodged through streets with her head down and her hands in her pockets, to passers by she must have just looked like another sulky teenager strutting her way through the town. There were a lot of these teens on the streets, sometimes on their own and sometimes in groups, and Eponine looked like she could be any one of them. but it was more then that. It was a secret she knew no one could ever find out. A secret that made even herself feel ill.

It has been about three weeks since she had started going to the Musain regularly. She mostly went to moon over her fair haired next door neighbour who stumbled over his words (and in fact stumbled over any material object placed on the floor) who seemed to feel sorry for Eponine, but this only convinced her further that he was secretly in love with her. She was never going to be the one to ask of course - that's not how the fairytale worked in her head.

Her actual real life boyfriend Montparnasse had explained to her several times that she was wasting her time. It was an open relationship and he didn’t mind her going with other people, but he certainly did mind her getting hurt because of her own delusions, of course, she took this as jealousy on his part and had stopped listening before she even started listening. 

Meanwhile in reality, she pushed the door open as if she was entering a palace and entered the busy room where she had to do what she had to do. The whole room smelled to her of sin and betrayal. There was something she felt here that she had never felt while doing something for her parents or for the patron minette. A new kind of guilt that she could not quite shake off no matter how hard she tried to tell herself there was nothing wrong with what she was doing. 

With her hood still down and her hands fumbling in her pockets to find the exact change so she didn’t have to hang around longer than was needed, she walked up to the counter and asked the young man behind it one simple request.

"Venti white chocolate mocha with extra cream please." She choked out as he held out her money and felt a piercing shiver of shame. She was in starbucks. She had been in starbucks before. She liked being in starbucks and this was her weekly treat to herself.

"Yeah sure, anything else miss?" She recognized the voice from behind the counter, although it was a little lighter and less smug for once, it was nevertheless unmistakable. 

"Jesus fuck.” Her eyes widened. “Mont is that you?" Eponine flicked up her hood and stared at him for what felt like an eternity while he looked at her like a well groomed rabbit caught in headlights. Sometimes, time will go slower than it actually is, and the five seconds that Montparnasse and Eponine looked at each for seemed more like a year to both of them. 

"Eponine what the fuck?" He eventually whispered in a monotone voice while the queue of people started to build up behind her. "Dorothy do you mind if I take my break now?" He called to a grey haired old lady who was sat in an office just behind the counter while swallowing nervously.

"Of course you can deary." She replied in a chirpy, carefree voice and Eponine could practically hear the butterscotch sweets in her voice. 

Mont pulled off his apron and circled the counter, grabbing Eponine’s arm on the way and pulling her through a door that lead to the back of the building before she could even say anything. Once out, he turned to face her, looking down at her in obvious annoyance. "How did you find me?" Eponine was surprised to hear a small hiss at the edge of his voice. He seemed genuinely upset that she’d stumbled upon his secret work place.

"I didn't know you worked here, I swear I didn't!” She snapped defensively before deciding to be nicer. “You do look cute in an apron though." She thought a bit of flirtation would make him soften a little bit as it usually does, so she batted her eyelashes.However, his eyes just narrowed more and his scowl became harder. 

"This isn't funny, Eponine. who told you? Was it Claquesous? Was it one of those boys you linger around in the Musain?" He digged his nails into her arm accidentally in his irritation and she pulled it away, starting to scowl back. “Sorry Ep.” He muttered.

"Dude, chill out…” She looked around, as if one of the amis would come around the corner at any second. “if you must know, I like the coffee, I come here once a week but I usually come on a Tuesday rather than a wednesday but I was busy yesterday. OK? Stop being such a fucking drama queen, you're the one who works here." 

She felt rather offended that he described her relationship with he amis as 'lingering' and wondered why he was making such a huge deal of it before she remembered how much he had always said he hated starbucks. Being in starbucks was probably as shameful for him as it was for her. “Why did you take this job anyway? You hate these places. Was dealing cocaine not lucrative enough for you?” She questioned sharply, rubbing her arm.

Montparnasse sighed and relaxed his face. “Look. I know it’s your birthday in a week and I wanted to earn money without getting arrested. So I pulled up a fake ID and got a “real job” alright?” He said, rolling his eyes and using air quotes. Eponine smiled widely. 

“Ahhhh Monty!” She jumped up and threw her arms around his neck, kissing his cheeks and standing right on her tiptoes, leaving traces of her light pink lipstick all over his face. 

“Don’t call me monty!” He said, but he was laughing and he gripped her around the waist to make sure they didn’t fall over. He also moved backwards a little bit so he could lean against the wall while she peppered his face with affection. “Hey, babe.” He smirked once she’d finally stopped and rested against his shoulder. “I have an idea, stay here. I’ll be back as soon as possible.” With that, he leaned down and gave her a kiss before disappearing back to work. 

It was surprisingly quiet when he went back and he looked into the office to see Dorothy asleep at her desk and with a grin of victory, he unlocked the till. There was no queue and only one hipster at the other end of the cafe, looking at his laptop with interest. This was going to be easy.

He took out every note he saw and stuffed them in his pockets in the tidiest way he possibly could so that he didn’t rip a single one, while still in a hurry. He swapped his apron for the old leather jacket that he to get to and from work and he was ready to go, feeling smug he had managed to do it.

Trying to not look like he was running away from a crime scene, he slipped through the back door, checking carefully for people watching and then grabbing Eponine by the hand and starting to run through the backstreets.

She yelped in surprise and dropped the cigarette that she was holding in her other hand. “Where are we going?” She inquired, looking over her shoulder to see what it was Montparnasse was pulling her away from and only seeing a brick wall.

“We’re going to get you that necklace you were looking at in the window the other week. And more if you want.” She grinned as he slowed down a little once they’d gotten further away, allowing her to catch up to him so she could put his arm around her while she beamed up at him. “By the way - I don’t think I work at starbucks any more.”


End file.
